2024-02-16 13:47:30
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated that dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, supported by the EU, is the only necessary path for both countries, KosovaPress reported. He added that this time will lead everyone to a better future, BTA reported.
Blinken said this at a press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama yesterday on his first visit to Tirana.
The US Secretary of State said that the US is aware of what happened in the region 30 years ago (the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, including the Kosovo war in 1998-1999 – note) and that there can be no a repeat of the events since then.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Belgrade does not recognize. The two countries are conducting a dialogue to normalize their relations with the mediation of the EU. The latest tension between Belgrade and Pristina came after the Kosovo government banned the use of the Serbian dinar for payments, effective February 1. Belgrade pays pensions and salaries in dinars to staff at Serbian-run institutions, including schools and hospitals, in northern Kosovo, where mostly Kosovo Serbs live. They used the dinar in local shops, cafes, pharmacies.
The European Union and the United States have expressed concern that a ban on the use of the dinar in Kosovo could raise tensions in the already volatile region and called for consultations and a delay in its introduction.
Yesterday, the American ambassador in Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, repeated the call of the United States to postpone the decision on the dinar, saying that it has affected the quality of the partnership between the United States and Kosovo, notes KosovaPress.
Hovenier expressed concern that since US Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien’s interview in Kosovo a few days ago, there have been public statements disputing the dinar issue’s impact on Kosovo-US relations.
O’Brien said that “if (Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti) doesn’t treat us as a partner, it calls into question how much we can take this government as a partner.” .
“As Assistant Secretary O’Brien stated, this situation has already affected the quality of the partnership between our two governments. Any claim to the contrary reflects a fundamental misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the importance we place on resolving this issue in a way that addresses our concerns and, most importantly, in a way that provides ongoing support for vulnerable people from minority communities in Kosovo.” stressed Geoffrey Hovenier, quoted by the agency.
The Kosovo government was also criticized by the opposition in the country for what it called “damaging relations with the US”, KosovaPress also notes. The opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, Democratic Union of Kosovo and Alliance for the Future of Kosovo criticized Prime Minister Kurti’s government for this that he did not coordinate with the country’s international allies.
In response to the reactions from the US and the Kosovo opposition, the chairwoman of the parliamentary group of the ruling Self-Determination Movement party, Mimosa Kusari-Lilya, said at a parliamentary session yesterday that Kosovo has never deviated from its peaceful orientation and democratic values.
According to her, the reactions of Kosovo’s international friends and partners regarding the decision on the dinar have nothing to do with the orientation of the country, but only with concerns for the well-being of the Serbian community in Kosovo. Kusari-Lilya emphasized that in Kosovo more than 20 thousand citizens from the Serbian community receive their pensions in euros and the circulation of the dinar is not prohibited, it will just be used in the same way as all foreign currencies in Kosovo.